Many persons who are physically able to be ambulatory do not have the capability of caring for themselves adequately when they are. Among these are small children (especially when ill), older persons suffering from some forms of senility, some mentally deranged persons, and the like. One solution to the problem is to physically restrain the person in a recumbent or supine position when an attendant is not present, or during the nightime when other members of the family are asleep. However, this is not a satisfactory solution, especially in the home, and is normally resorted to only under the most extreme circumstances.
Vitally needed is a means of alerting others when such a person raises up to a sitting or standing position, but which does not restrain them from moving normally in bed and does not generate feelings of being restrained. A number of solutions to somewhat related matters illustrate the range of efforts which have been devoted to solving these types of problems.
The first group of solutions relate to medical problems.
Creelman U S. Pat. No. 3,638,647 discloses an alarm system for alerting others, incorporating a chest harness and associated stand for actuating an alarm when a patient has suffered a momentary loss of consciousness or has slumped or fallen from a more-or-less upright stance.
Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 4,296,757 discloses an alarm system for use with small infants for alerting parents or attendants when the symptoms of Sudden Infant Death (SID) Syndrome are detected by some appropriate means.
The second group of solutions relate to automobile passengers and seat belts.
Boblitz U.S. Pat. No. 3,504,336 discloses an alarm system for multi-occupant cars that activates a signal for alerting the driver of the vehicle or an overtaking policeman that all occupants are not belted.
Spizzo U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,988 discloses a seatbelt associated alarm system for warning a driver of a vehicle that he has fallen asleep and has slumped forward.
The third group of solutions relate to posture-aid devices.
Verhaeghe U S. Pat. No. 3,582,935 discloses an alarm system based upon abdominal muscle tension which alerts a wearer when he has permitted his abdominal muscles to relax.
Hall U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,541 discloses an alarm system incorporating a harness which alerts a wearer that he has permitted his posture to deteriorate.
Palmer U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,320 discloses an alarm system which detects when a person has permitted his abdominal muscles to relax and has assumed a poor posture.
Butler U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,688 discloses a signaling device that signals when a wearer has assumed the correct stance for any of several sporting activities.
It will be seen that the above disclosures all deal with the problem of detecting and signaling a change in the physical position or condition of a person, usually from a desired to an undesirable state. However, none of them deals with the problem of keeping track of the physical position of a patient who is not able to care for himself when up and about, and who is supposed to remain in a recumbent position when unsupervised, nor do they provide for alerting family or attendants when such a patient changes to an upright position.